Datong Travel Guide: Yungang Grottoes, the Hanging Temple and a Day Trip from Beijing

Give Datong one full day if you only want the Yungang Grottoes and a walk through the old city, and two days if you also want the Hanging Temple. A day trip from Beijing works for Yungang alone: the fastest high-speed train from Beijing's Qinghe station reaches Datong South in 1 hour 45 minutes. The Hanging Temple is a separate trip out to Hunyuan county, in the other direction from Yungang, and it takes most of a day on its own, so a second day lets you do both without rushing. Two things to sort out before you go. Yungang has no ticket window: you book online in your own name 1 to 15 days ahead, and there are no same-day tickets. And trains to Datong South leave from Qinghe or Beijing North, not from Beijing West or Beijing Fengtai.

How many days Datong needs, and when to go

Datong (大同, Dàtóng) is in the far north of Shanxi province, between the inner and outer lines of the Great Wall. It was the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty, when it was called Pingcheng (平城), and later a secondary capital, the "Western Capital", of the Liao and Jin dynasties. That history is why the sights here are so old: the Yungang caves were carved while the Northern Wei court was here, and the big wooden temples in the old city are Liao and Jin buildings.

Here is how the time splits up:

• Yungang Grottoes: half a day including the bus ride. The site is west of the city.
• Old city: half a day to a full day for the city wall, Huayan Temple, Shanhua Temple and the Nine Dragon Screen, plus the evening on the wall.
• Hanging Temple and Mount Heng: most of a day, because of the trip out to Hunyuan county and back.
• Yingxian Wooden Pagoda: another half day to a day, in yet another direction. Add it only if you have a third day or a hired car.

So: one day covers Yungang and the old city; two days add the Hanging Temple; three days add the wooden pagoda at a relaxed pace. Datong also sits well on a longer Shanxi trip. Taiyuan South is about an hour and a half away by the fastest train, and there are direct trains to Pingyao Gucheng station.

Datong is high, dry and windy. Winter lasts more than four months, with average temperatures of −7 to −12 °C and a steady northwest wind; spring averages 7–9 °C and is windy with little rain; summer averages 19–22 °C and is cool enough that Chinese families come here to escape the heat; autumn averages 6–8 °C. In our view the best months are late May to early October, when every bus line runs and the wall is pleasant into the evening. Winter is cold but quiet, and Yungang and Huayan Temple switch to lower off-season prices from 1 November. If you come between November and March, bring a proper down jacket, a hat and gloves: you spend a lot of time standing outdoors at Yungang and on the wall. Our winter travel guide covers what to pack.

Getting to Datong: the right station, trains from Beijing, and the airport

Datong has two railway stations, and you almost always want the new one:

• Datong South (大同南, Dàtóng Nán) is the high-speed station. Trains from Beijing North, Qinghe, Taiyuan and Pingyao Gucheng all stop here. Right next to it, on the west side, is the Datong integrated transport centre, with city buses, long-distance buses and the taxi rank.
• Datong Station (大同站) is the old station on the slow lines. On our sample travel day, 5 November 2026, only slow K, Z and T trains stop there.

Check which one is printed on your ticket. They are different places in the city, and a taxi driver will take you to whichever one you say.

From Beijing: Qinghe or Beijing North

High-speed trains from Beijing to Datong South run on the Beijing–Zhangjiakou line and leave from two stations in the north of the city. On the sample day, 24 trains are scheduled from Qinghe (清河) between 07:04 and 20:16, the fastest taking 1 hour 45 minutes and a typical one about 2 hours 5 minutes; 21 trains leave from Beijing North (北京北) between 06:49 and 20:02, the fastest taking 1 hour 46 minutes. Second class costs about 146–167 yuan and first class 235–269 yuan, depending on the train.

Beijing West and Beijing Fengtai have no scheduled trains to Datong South on the sample day. Fengtai does have slow trains to the old Datong Station, but the fastest takes 5 hours 36 minutes. If you are staying in central Beijing, Beijing North is closer to the centre; Qinghe has more trains. Our Beijing guide explains where the stations are, and the train station guide walks you through the passport check and gates.

From Taiyuan and Pingyao

On the sample day, 43 trains run from Datong South to Taiyuan South between 06:33 and 21:35; the fastest takes 1 hour 29 minutes and a typical one 1 hour 46 minutes, with second class from about 99 to 134 yuan. Another 12 go from Datong South to the old Taiyuan Station. For Pingyao you do not need to change in Taiyuan: 8 direct trains go from Datong South to Pingyao Gucheng, the fastest in 2 hours 28 minutes. Our Pingyao guide picks up from there.

Tickets go on sale on 12306, China Railway's official site, which has an English version and takes a passport as ID. Our high-speed train guide explains booking, seat classes and how to collect a paper receipt if you need one.

By air

Datong Yungang International Airport is about 17 km east of the city. For the 2026–27 winter–spring season, which runs from 25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027, it has flights to 15 cities: Guangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai, Kunming, Chengdu, Harbin, Haikou, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Zhuhai, Zhengzhou, Changchun and Hong Kong — but not Beijing or Xi'an. From Beijing the train is the only sensible choice. Bus 67 links the airport with the transport centre at Datong South, a ride of about 30 minutes; from Datong South the first bus leaves at 7:00 and the last at 19:00.

The 240-hour visa-free transit and Datong

If you are entering China on the 240-hour visa-free transit, note that Shanxi has only one entry port for it, Taiyuan Wusu airport, and that the area you may stay in is Taiyuan and Datong only — Pingyao and Mount Wutai are outside it. Travel between permitted areas in different provinces is allowed, so coming from Beijing to Datong is fine on this policy. If you entered on a visa, or on the 30-day visa-free entry if your passport qualifies, this area limit does not apply to you. Our 240-hour visa-free transit guide explains who qualifies.

Datong South is also one of Shanxi's "payment service" stations, with ATMs that take foreign cards and signs in English and Chinese. It is a good place to take out some cash on arrival; see our guide to using international cards in China.

Yungang Grottoes: booking, tickets and which caves to see

The Yungang Grottoes (云冈石窟, Yúngāng Shíkū) are 16 km west of the city, cut into the south face of Wuzhou Mountain and stretching about 1 km from east to west. There are 254 caves and niches, 45 of them major caves, with more than 59,000 statues, carved while the Northern Wei had their capital here. UNESCO listed the site as a World Heritage Site in 2001. Datong's official English city guide has a short introduction to the caves. If you have seen the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Yungang is the earlier of the two great Northern Wei cave sites; our Luoyang guide covers Longmen.

Booking: online only, in your own name

Most problems at Yungang come from booking. Yungang stopped selling tickets at a window on 1 January 2025, and since 15 April 2026 you book online 1 to 15 days ahead — the day itself cannot be booked — in your real name. Everyone needs a booking, including people who get in free; only children aged 6 and under, or under 1.2 m tall, are exempt, and you show the ID you booked with at the gate. The booking channels are two WeChat mini-programs (small apps inside WeChat), "云冈研究院" and "云冈石窟文旅", plus authorised travel platforms such as Ctrip and Meituan. If you do not use WeChat, Ctrip's international app is Trip.com — check that Yungang is listed there for your date.

For foreign visitors, the Datong city government reports an English-language online booking option (look for the English version when you open the booking page), foreign bank card readers, guides in foreign languages, English signs and an immigration service desk in the visitor centre. A 2026 visitor guide also mentions multilingual self-service ticket machines on the second floor of the visitor centre for visitors from abroad, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Treat those machines as a backup and check that they are working before you rely on them: book online first, enter your passport number exactly as printed, and bring the same passport.

The site's maximum capacity is 46,250 visitors a day. That is a lot, but bookings for weekends and Chinese public holidays still run out, so book as soon as you know your date.

Tickets and opening hours

Yungang has two seasons. From 1 November to 31 March the off-season full price has been 100 yuan, and from 1 April to 31 October the price is 120 yuan. Confirm the current price on the booking page. A half-price ticket exists for children over 6 up to 18 and for full-time students below university level; these concessions follow Chinese ID rules, so check on the booking page whether your foreign ID qualifies before you choose one.

In the off-season the site is open from 8:30 to 16:30, and it opens longer on public holidays — confirm the hours on the booking page for your day.

How long to spend, and which caves to see

Plan on two and a half to three hours. There is a long walk through the landscaped grounds before you reach the cliff, and then about a kilometre of caves. Our suggestions for where to spend your time:

• Caves 5 and 6, near the eastern middle of the cliff: two huge caves where the walls and the central pillar are covered top to bottom with carved and painted figures. Cave 6 is the most detailed space at the site.
• Caves 16 to 20, the earliest group: big Buddha figures, each filling its cave. Cave 20 has lost its front wall, so its seated Buddha sits in the open air — the picture you see on every postcard of Yungang.
• Caves 9 to 13, with painted ceilings, carved musicians and many small Buddhas in niches.

Individual caves close for conservation work from time to time, so look at the closure notice at the entrance rather than planning your visit around one cave. Photo rules can differ from cave to cave, so follow the signs and staff. Many visitors walk from east to west and finish with Cave 20.

Getting there from the station or the old city is easy by bus; see the section on getting around below.

The Hanging Temple and Mount Heng

The Hanging Temple (悬空寺, Xuánkōng Sì) is built into a sheer cliff face in Jinlong Canyon on Mount Heng, with its halls held up on wooden beams. It was first built in the late Northern Wei, more than 1,500 years ago, is mostly made of wood, and has more than 40 halls and rooms and more than 80 statues. Datong's city guide describes it as the only surviving temple in China that brings Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism together under one roof. Mount Heng (恒山, Héng Shān) itself is one of China's Five Great Mountains and a Taoist holy mountain; its main peak, Tianfeng Ridge, is 4 km south of Hunyuan town and 2,016.1 m high. Mount Heng is on China's tentative list for World Heritage, not the World Heritage list itself.

Entry ticket vs climbing ticket

There are two tickets at the Hanging Temple, and many people buy only the first. At 2026 peak-season prices (from 1 April), the Mount Heng ticket is 45 yuan, the Hanging Temple entry ticket is 15 yuan, and climbing up into the temple is a separate 100-yuan ticket that the entry ticket does not include. With only the entry ticket you see the temple from the path below. For winter, confirm the current prices at the window. One shuttle ticket covers unlimited rides between the visitor centre, the Hanging Temple, Yuemenwan and Hengzong.

The climbing cap, and why passport holders buy at the window

Since 1 April 2026 the number of people allowed to climb is capped at about 2,500 a day, and the scenic area plans to lower it year by year — check the day's notice. Part of the quota is sold online, up to 7 days ahead; the rest is sold at the window for the same day only, in a morning session that goes on sale half an hour before opening and an afternoon session that goes on sale at 12:00, until it is sold out.

The important detail for foreign visitors: since 2 June 2026, online climbing tickets require face recognition, and passport holders have to buy at the window instead. The scenic area's notice on the Datong government website (in Chinese) lists who has to use the window. In practice that means you cannot reserve a climbing ticket in advance. Arrive before opening for the morning session, especially on weekends and from spring to autumn, when tickets have been selling out. If you arrive late and the climbing tickets are gone, the view from below is still worth the trip; the climb itself is short, along narrow wooden walkways and steep stairs, and not pleasant if you dislike heights.

Opening hours

From November to February the Hanging Temple is open 8:30–16:30; in March, April and October 8:00–17:00; and from May to September 8:00–18:00. The main Mount Heng scenic area closes earlier: 8:30–16:00 from November to February, 8:00–16:30 in March, April and October, and 8:00–17:30 from May to September. In summer and early autumn there is a large evening light show on the cliff; the 2026 season ran from 18 May to 8 October, and the next season's dates will appear in the scenic area's notices.

Getting there

By public transport, bus 901 leaves from the transport centre beside Datong South and goes to Hunyuan county town. For the last stretch to the temple, take a local taxi or a DiDi from Hunyuan: county taxis often quote a fixed price for the trip, so agree it before you get in, while DiDi shows its price before you book. The other option is the Datong scenic direct buses (景区直通车, jǐngqū zhítōngchē), which have 21 routes linking Yungang, Mount Heng, the Hanging Temple, the old city, the Yingxian pagoda, Mount Wutai and other sights; check their mini-program for which lines are running in your season. Many visitors simply hire a car and driver for the day, which also lets you add the Yingxian pagoda. If you go with DiDi or a taxi, our DiDi guide explains how to set it up with a foreign card.

The Hanging Temple holds Buddhist, Taoist and Confucian statues. Dress normally, keep your voice down inside the halls, and do not touch the statues; our guide to visiting religious sites covers the basics.

Datong old city: the wall, the temples and the Nine Dragon Screen

The old city covers 3.28 square km. Its walls were built up in 1372 by the Ming general Xu Da on top of older Northern Wei, Tang, Liao and Jin cities; the wall is 7.24 km around, the streets follow a grid, and four main streets run out from the Sipailou (四牌楼) crossing in the middle: Heyang, Qingyuan, Yongtai and Wuding streets. Much of what you see along the walls and streets has been restored; the temples are the places to look for the older buildings. The whole area is flat and easy to walk.

The city wall

You can walk on top of the wall, and the views over the grid of old streets are best late in the afternoon and after dark, when the gate towers are lit. Opening hours change with the season: 7:00–21:00 in December, January and February; 7:00–22:00 in March to May and September to November; and 7:00–23:00 in June to August. Whether going up needs a paid ticket has changed over the years, and tickets are currently sold online, so check the current price and where to buy before you go. A full loop takes a couple of hours on foot, so most visitors walk one side and come down at the next gate.

Huayan Temple

Huayan Temple (华严寺, Huáyán Sì) is the biggest temple in the old city and the one to choose if you only have time for one. It has a large wooden main hall and a lower temple with old painted clay statues. The off-season ticket has been 40 yuan full price and 20 yuan half price, and from 1 April it is 50 yuan; confirm the current price at the gate. In the off-season it is open 8:30–17:00, when ticket sales also stop, and in the peak season 8:30–18:00.

Shanhua Temple

Shanhua Temple (善化寺, Shànhuà Sì), near the South Gate, is quieter than Huayan and has a large Liao-Jin main hall with rows of statues. Tickets have been 40 yuan full price and 20 yuan half price all year, a price the city calls a discount, so confirm it at the gate. In the off-season it opens at around 8:00 or 8:30 and closes at 17:00, depending on the source; in summer the city guide gives 8:00–18:00.

Nine Dragon Screen

The Nine Dragon Screen (九龙壁, Jiǔlóng Bì) is on Heyang Street and is open 8:00–18:00. It is a glazed-tile wall built in the early Ming dynasty in front of the palace of Zhu Gui, the thirteenth son of the first Ming emperor; it is 8 m high, 2 m thick and 45.5 m long, the largest and oldest dragon screen in China. The palace is gone, so the screen stands on its own in a small courtyard. Twenty minutes is enough. The admission price is shown at the entrance.

Datong Museum

The Datong Museum is outside the walls, on the way back to Datong South, and the Yungang direct bus stops there on its return run. It is open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00–17:00 with last entry at 16:30, and closed on Mondays except public holidays. Entry is free but needs a real-name booking, up to 7 days ahead including the same day, through the museum's WeChat official account or its website, using a phone number registered in your real name; this is the rule announced in 2023, so check the booking page for the current process. If the booking does not work with your passport, ask at the entrance.

For more on how temple visits work in China — where to walk, when to stay quiet, what not to photograph — see cultural etiquette and taboos.

Yingxian Wooden Pagoda

The Yingxian Wooden Pagoda (应县木塔, Yìngxiàn Mùtǎ), officially the Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple (佛宫寺释迦塔), is in Ying county, in neighbouring Shuozhou. It was built in 1056 under the Liao dynasty, with additions completed in 1195; it is 67.31 m tall and 30.27 m across at the base, and it is the oldest and tallest wooden pagoda standing in China, built entirely of wood without nails or rivets. Give yourself time to walk all the way round it in the courtyard.

You cannot climb it. To protect the structure, visitors are no longer allowed up the pagoda, and since April 2026 a digital, immersive exhibition about the pagoda has opened as an alternative. Ticket prices and opening hours are posted at the gate; check them on the day.

Getting there: bus 902 runs from the transport centre at Datong South to Huairen and Ying county. High-speed trains heading south from Datong South also stop at Yingxian West (应县西) — check 12306 for times on your date. You will need a taxi from the bus terminal or station to the pagoda.

Combining it with the Hanging Temple: Ying county is south-west of Datong and Hunyuan is south-east, so by public transport they are two separate days. With a hired car the two fit into one long day, which is the easiest way to see both. If you only have two days in Datong, we would choose the Hanging Temple over the pagoda; the pagoda is the one to add on a third day, or on the way south if you are travelling by car.

What to eat in Datong

Datong food is northern, filling and based on wheat, millet and lamb. In June 2023 the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry named Datong an "international city of gastronomy". The local dishes worth ordering include knife-cut noodles, Hunyuan cold jelly noodles, old-Datong mixed hot pot, "hundred flower" shaomai dumplings, fried millet cakes, lamb offal soup and spicy rabbit head. In more detail:

• Knife-cut noodles (刀削面, dāoxiāo miàn): the cook shaves strips of dough off a block with a curved blade straight into boiling water. They are thick and chewy, usually in a beef or tomato-and-egg sauce. The craft of making them is on China's national list of intangible cultural heritage, added in 2008.
• Lamb offal soup (羊杂, yángzá): a breakfast dish of lamb tripe, lung and liver in a hot broth with chilli oil. If offal is not for you, try a lamb noodle soup instead.
• Rabbit head (兔头, tùtóu): braised and spicy, eaten with your fingers, more of a snack with beer than a meal.
• Old-Datong mixed hot pot (老大同什锦火锅): a copper pot with a charcoal chimney in the middle, filled with meatballs, tofu, vermicelli and vegetables, served to share.
• Hunyuan cold jelly noodles (浑源凉粉): thick strips of starch jelly with vinegar and chilli — a good lunch on a Hanging Temple day, since Hunyuan is where they come from.
• Yellow cake and fried millet cake (黄糕 / 油糕): sticky cakes made from millet flour, eaten plain with meat dishes or fried with a filling.
• "Hundred flower" shaomai (百花烧麦): open-topped steamed dumplings, pinched at the top so they look like flowers.

Shanxi's dark vinegar is on every table; locals add it to noodles and dumplings. The streets inside the old walls, especially around the Drum Tower and Sipailou, have plenty of noodle shops and snack stalls. Picture menus and pointing work fine, and most places take Alipay or WeChat Pay.

Getting around Datong by bus and taxi

Datong has no metro. Getting around means buses, the scenic direct buses and taxis or DiDi. Distances inside the old city are short enough to walk.

From Datong South to the old city and Yungang

The bus bays in the transport centre west of Datong South serve lines 14, 31, 61, 66, 68, 606, 608 and the Yungang tourist line. For the old city, bus 61 runs straight to Huayan Temple, Shanhua Temple, the Drum Tower and Sipailou, and bus 608 or the Yungang tourist line stop at the Nine Dragon Screen and Huayan Temple. For Yungang, take the Yungang tourist line directly, or take bus 68 to the "公交四公司" stop and change to bus 3 to "云冈石窟".

The simplest option for Yungang is the scenic direct bus from Datong South. Walk out of the station, turn left (west) and walk about 50 m to the direct-bus car park; the bus goes straight to the caves, and on the way back it stops at the old city and the Datong Museum before returning to Datong South. When the line opened in May 2025 it ran every 20 minutes from 9:00 to 16:40 for 10 yuan per person, with tickets sold on the "大同景区直通车" WeChat mini-program or official account; winter departures may be fewer, so check the mini-program or ask at the stop.

From the old city, a double-decker sightseeing bus has run between the old city and Yungang since 23 August 2026. It leaves from Taipinglou (太平楼) in the old city, stops at the Bell Tower and then goes straight to the caves in about 50 minutes, running 8:00–17:00 for 15 yuan with a guide on board. It opened in summer, so check the winter timetable with the bus company before relying on it.

Taxis and DiDi

At Datong South, taxis wait on the basement level (B1) of the transport centre, west of the station exit. In the city, taxis run on the meter, and DiDi shows its price before you book. DiDi works well in Datong and is handy for the Hanging Temple's last stretch, the Yingxian pagoda and late evenings after the buses stop. Have your destination written in Chinese characters to show the driver.

One-day and two-day Datong plans

Day trip from Beijing: Yungang and the old city

• Morning: take one of the first trains from Beijing North or Qinghe — the earliest leave at 06:49 and 07:04 on the sample day — and arrive at Datong South around 9:00.
• Late morning: take the direct bus from Datong South to Yungang and spend two and a half to three hours at the caves. Your Yungang booking must be made at least a day ahead.
• Afternoon: take the direct bus back, getting off at the old city. Walk to the Nine Dragon Screen and Huayan Temple, and go up on the wall if you have time.
• Evening: knife-cut noodles in the old city, then a taxi or bus 61 back to Datong South for an evening train. Check the last departures from Datong South to Beijing on 12306 for your date and book the return before you leave Beijing. If you would rather book in a familiar English-language app with your own card, Trip.com sells the same trains, so you can buy both legs together.

It is a long day, but it works. Skip the Hanging Temple on a day trip; there is not enough time for both. For other trips out of the capital, see our Beijing day trips.

Two days in Datong

• Day 1: Yungang in the morning, then the old city in the afternoon: Huayan Temple, the Nine Dragon Screen and Shanhua Temple. Walk the wall at sunset and stay for the lights.
• Day 2: leave early for the Hanging Temple so you are at the window before opening for the morning climbing tickets. Add Mount Heng if you have energy, eat cold jelly noodles in Hunyuan, and come back to Datong in the afternoon. If it is not a Monday, fit in the Datong Museum on the way back to the station, or keep the evening for a hot pot dinner.

With a third day, add the Yingxian Wooden Pagoda, or hire a car on day 2 and do the Hanging Temple and the pagoda together.

Stay inside or close to the old city walls. You can walk to the temples and the wall at night, buses 61 and the double-decker leave from there, and the area has the most restaurants. The area around Datong South only makes sense for a single night before an early train. Hotels register foreign guests with the police at check-in, so bring your passport; our hotel booking and registration guide explains how it works. Once you have picked the area, you can compare hotels inside the walls on Booking.com.

Going on from Datong

Datong is usually the first stop on a Shanxi route that continues to Mount Wutai and Pingyao. Mount Wutai has no high-speed station; from Datong South the Datong scenic direct bus goes to the Wutaishan visitor centre — check the mini-program for winter departures, and the five terrace peaks are closed from 1 November 2026 to 15 May 2027, though the temple town stays open. Our Shanxi route guide covers Mount Wutai, Taiyuan and how to order the whole trip, and the Pingyao guide covers the walled town at the other end. Heading west instead, Yungang makes a good pair with the caves of Dunhuang.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated: October 2026